Hating Black Athletes: Part Three

CALIFORNIA (BASN) — Not more than a year ago, the No. 1 golfer of the world owned the No. 1 spot on the “most hated” athletes list.

Tiger Woods was tabbed for his infidelity to his Swedish wife which in reality, was none of America‘s business. But the prevaling thought was how dare Tiger cheat on a beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed queen.

Football player Terrell Owens took the number one spot when he was re-negotiating his contract in the City of Brotherly Love.

Terrell was smiling all night being in the locker room with another beautiful woman as she dropped her towel. The American rage mounted with each passing day.

Let me remind all that Mr.

Owens owns many of the NFL receiving records and has proven time and time again that he is one of the best wide receivers in the league and has never been arrested. However years later, the hate still is vented in T.O.’s direction.

Just over a year ago, Yankee third basemen Alex Rodriguez publicly confessed to the use of steroids. Some people have yet to forgive A-Rod. Oh by the way, other players in the league were using steroids. People claimed that Alex was not sincere in his apology for his use of steroids.

What more can a man do?

Then there is Barry Lamar Bonds. You could have started a bonfire with the venom directed at him. It was o.k. for Bonds to hit home runs as long as he did not get near baseball’s sacred records.

It was o.k to put fannies in the seats of AT&TPark supporting a losing team. The San Francisco Giant owners did not complain. Once the records were in sight, the hate started coming out. Bonds became the most hated man in American at the middle 2000′s.

Then there was the fire storm at the Turin, Italy in 2006. Shani Davis was called out for not being a team player. He trained in Canada not in the United States for the Olympic Games.

He did not to partake in the USA pursuit team practice because only four years earlier he was denied the spot which these skaters were granted without trials four years later. Shani also had only trained for the long distance events 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meter races, not the pursuit.

Many Americans thought Davis was the son of Satan because he did not help the American Pursuit Speed Skating Team. Standing up for his choice made Davis that winter’s No. 1 on the now famous list.

Many Americans did not know nor care what has transpired at the United States Olympic training site. Davis was another uppity Negro that had to be put back in his place. He still won gold and silver medals the past two winter games.

Of course there was also the 2003 summer of Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and the alleged sex affair in Colorado. It was so bad that Bryant changed his No. 8 to No. 24.

Mothers would not let their children wear the Bryant jersey. Kobe became a villain within 24 hours and stayed that way for months even years. Bryant is still trying to rehabilitate his image among the masses. The most hated man in America in the 90′s.

A decade has passed and Kobe is still on the list.

Then came 1984 and the slow police chase of the Ford white Bronco down the Pacific Coast Hi-way with a distraught and depressed O. J. Simpson in the back seat.

Mr.

Simpson was acquitted of the alleged murder of his ex wife. The venom started seeping out all over the country. Most white people thought O.J.

was guilty.

While most Black Americans might have thought he was guilty but they never spoke out loud in fact they cheered after the verdict was read. The beloved comedic movie actor Simpson, the running back for the USC Trojans and Buffalo Bills was now and still is one of the most hated men in America.

Everybody has an opinion and anyone can make a list. Here are my most disliked players in sports in my opinion. Don’t like the word hate it is a very strong word and evokes very strong emotions.

But this list just like the ten most hated players in sports list conveys the point, if you want to make a political, social, economic, or racial statement. Paper and pen can help you establish this point.

These are the men that The Gray Leopard Cove thinks have cheated the sports world. These individuals will not be on the 10 most hated athletes list anytime soon.

But again, this list would be prejudice because it does not include any Black players and that is the problem about making an unintelligent meaningless list like the above.

The difference in the way Blacks view their sports heroes and the way whites view their sports heroes could be that African-Americans do not deify or glorify their athletes or made them holier-than-thou.

So if these individuals make a mistake it is not a serious matter.These sports figures are just individuals that have the talent to play football, baseball, or basketball and get paid very well doing so.

So it takes the hate factor out of the equation, something America should learn. The question is why was this list produced and what is its purpose? We all know the answer and America needs to look in the mirror and stop this nonsense.